Deadly Greetings (Book 2 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) (32 page)

“
Are you all right?” I asked
her. My sister looked more shaken than I’d ever seen
her.

She didn’t answer, but it was clear that
further conversation wouldn’t be welcome. We all managed to talk
around her as the servers delivered our food. All I knew was that
it must have been some kind of a confrontation to leave my sister
shaking like she was.

After a pleasant meal of roast beef,
asparagus tips in cheese sauce, and garlic mashed potatoes, our
servers whisked our plates away and replaced them with chocolate
mousses adorned with raspberries.

Lillian studied hers and said, “I’m so full,
I don’t think I can eat this.”

I started to reach for her dessert plate
before she could finish her sentence. “I’ll be glad to help you out
with it.”

She swatted my hand, and the entire table
laughed. “If I can’t handle it, you’ll be the first to know,”
Lillian said.

I dug into mine, regretting the richness of
the dessert for just a second before I gave in to it. Jack had
outdone himself, and I knew everyone at that dinner would be
talking about the meal for weeks. I was just finishing my dessert
when I felt someone approaching me from behind.

“
Jennifer, may I have a word
with you?”

It was Greg Langston, and he was wearing a
tuxedo that made him look like a movie star. His tie perfectly
matched his deep blue eyes, and his normally wild blond hair was
tamed in place. I felt my heart skip despite the current state of
our relationship, and I tried my best to keep my voice level as I
answered. “I’ll try to find time for you later. I’d offer you a
seat, but we don’t have any extras.”

His hand brushed my shoulder, and I felt a
tingle at his touch. “This is important.”

I started to ask him what his definition of
important was when Savannah nudged my elbow. “Girl, go talk to him.
Don’t worry, we’ll save your seat.”

I rolled my eyes at her, then stood up and
faced him. “What is it, Greg?”

“
Can we step away from the
tables and talk about it?” he asked in that soft voice he’d always
used to get to me.

Be strong, I told myself as I nodded my
acceptance. Greg and I might have looked like a perfect match on
paper, but we were constantly out of sync, and I couldn’t imagine
things getting any better between us. I was fully prepared to tell
him no again, because I could see in his eyes that he was going to
ask me out. My speech was all ready to deliver when he blurted out,
“I’m seeing someone new—someone important to me—and I didn’t want
you to hear it from somebody else first.”

“
You don’t have to keep me
informed about the details of your love life,” I said, just a
little harsher than I’d intended.

He started to frown, then said, “Jennifer, I
just thought you should know. I waited for you as long as I could,
but I never seemed to get anywhere with you.”

“
Greg, I’m sorry, but there
was just no way it was ever going to work out for us.” There, at
least I’d been able to deliver part of the speech I’d been ready to
give. While I had been sincere when I’d said that Greg and I didn’t
have a future together, I still wasn’t all that sure I wanted him
dating other people. My own skewed sense of logic didn’t have to
make sense to anybody else. It was just the way I felt.

I saw an attractive blonde staring at us,
tall and slim and rather elegant in a dress that perfectly matched
Greg’s tie. “You brought her here, didn’t you?” I asked.

Greg looked over his shoulder, then waved to
the young woman in question. “Jen, you intimidate the daylights out
of her. It was all I could do to convince her to let me come over
here and talk to you.”

I studied her again, then offered her a
friendly smile I didn’t feel. I intimidated her; I sincerely
doubted that. I knew I was cute enough, but no one would ever
mistake me for the beauty he was with.

“
Tell her she doesn’t have
anything to worry about from me,” I said, then to my surprise, I
saw her start toward us. Suddenly my friendly smile wasn’t all that
friendly any more.

Before I could make my retreat, she
approached and offered a slender hand to me. “Hi. You must be
Jennifer. It’s such a pleasure to meet you.”

“
You, too,” I said, barely
managing not to mumble.

Greg said, “Jen, this is Stephanie
Staunton.”

I managed to nod as I heard a tapping on the
microphone on the stage. My friend Grady Farrar—who ran the best
hardware store in seven counties—was trying to get everyone’s
attention. “If you don’t mind, could everyone take their
seats?”

Greg and Stephanie returned to their prime
position while I rejoined my table in the back of the room.

Savannah said, “That did not look good,
Jennifer.”

“
If it’s any consolation, it
was worse than it appeared.”

Lillian patted my hand, but I couldn’t meet
anyone’s gaze. As I pretended to study the place settings, I
noticed that though there were five of us sitting there, there were
only four letter openers on the table. Funny, I was certain there
had been five there when we’d first sat down.

My attention returned to Grady as he asked
the audience, “Has anyone seen Eliza Glade? Eliza, are you out
there?”

There were a few mutters from the crowd, but
no Eliza. That was extremely odd, since I knew Eliza lived for her
annual time in the spotlight.

Grady tugged on the lapels of his suit,
whose fashion had last been stylish in the fifties, then said, “I
guess that leaves it to me to do the honors.”

He held up a small golden anvil, then said,
“It’s my pleasure to announce the winner of this year’s award. Now
I know Eliza’s probably going to skin me alive for skipping her
thirty-minute windup, but it’s getting late and we all have
businesses to run in the morning.” That brought a chuckle from the
crowd, and I could see that Grady was enjoying the attention. He’d
been vice president forever, but from what he’d told me in the
past, this was most likely the first time he’d ever been called on
to speak.

“
I’m going to read the name
in this envelope, then we’ll hear from the winner and that will
wrap up our evening.”

He tore the envelope open, and the look of
surprise on his face was undeniable. It appeared that he wasn’t
quite able to believe it, but finally he held open the letter
inside the envelope and read it aloud. “This year’s winner has
proven that youth does not necessarily mean unproven ability. Our
recipient took a sound idea, and despite heavy opposition from her
employer—a woman who should have known better, I might add—she made
a success out of something her sister proclaimed publicly would
never work. This year’s winner of the Rebel Forge Businessperson of
the Year award is Jennifer Shane.”

I couldn’t believe I’d just heard my name
called, even as Savannah tried to propel me out of my seat. I
whispered to my sister, “Sara Lynn, it’s a mistake. It should be
you.”

Sara Lynn shook her head. “Nonsense. I can’t
stand the witch, but she’s right. You made something work that I
thought would fail from the start. Go get your award.”

Lillian said, “Go on, Jennifer. You deserve
it. No one else in the world knows how hard you’ve worked for
it.”

I stood, then started walking toward the
front of the room. When I looked over at Greg, I saw that he was
deep in conversation with Stephanie. I would have liked to see his
smile, if just for a second, but he was otherwise engaged.

I was three steps from the raised platform,
finally believing that it was indeed true that I’d won, when I
heard a scream coming from the kitchen.

“
She’s dead!” the woman’s
voice shouted. “Someone stabbed her in the heart.”

And that’s when all hell broke loose.